We Meet Again? How a Playwright s Knowledge of an Antecedent Genre Made Learning Screenwriting Possible (But Difficult) Scott Sands How does one write a play, or a screenplay? Responding to Pankaj Challa s instructional article about writing screenplays in the 2010 Writing Research Annual, Scott Sands play explores, not just the features a writer has to learn in order to successfully engage with a writing task, but how writers make sense of such features when they encounter them in an unfamiliar kind of writing. In-Venting a play AT RISE, is on the couch, typing feverishly at his computer. enters Done yet? What do you think? moves behind the couch and leans over s shoulder to see what he s writing Nope. A moment of stasis. Then, walks around the couch and plops down next to 109 Copyright 2011 by Scott Sands
110 Grassroots Writing Research Journal So what s the problem? What? Why is it taking so long? gesturing at the computer indicating the ceiling He s never written a screenplay before. Ah. A moment of silence Isn t that why you re here? Yes,, that s why I m here. Because you wrote a piece about screenwriting. Mmm hmm. In the Writing Research Annual. Yes. So help him out. Show him what to do. You help him out. You ve written screenplays before. Yes. And you re a playwright.
Sands In-Venting 111 Wrote one of the masterpieces of the American theatre. Two of them. What? Technically, Angels in America is two plays Millennium Approaches and Peristroika. Oh. Yeah. I guess that s true. Pankaj? Yeah. How do you spell Millennium? For crying out loud, returns to writing. After a moment because I can t remember. Or more precisely, I don t know. Oh, great. Here it comes. You see, Pankaj, I m not real. Kushner is real. Heck, I probably wouldn t mind being him.
112 Grassroots Writing Research Journal Mmm hmm. But I m not Kushner. Really. I m a figment of his imagination. So am I,. Really, I m just a part of him. Me too. jerking his head toward the sky I don t know anything he doesn t what? I said, Me too. You too what? I m a figment of his imagination, too. Huh? pointing at the sky I m not real either. We re both imaginary. Oh. Yup.
Sands In-Venting 113 Wait. What? That s not entirely true. What? No. He s met you. He knows you. Hell, he took a class with you. That s true. Yup. Except for one thing. What s that? Scott met the real Pankaj. Took a class with the actual Mr. Challa. Doesn t actually know him. In fact, usually sat on the opposite end of the seminar table from him in class, and rarely spoke to him. But his office was across the hall from yours.? Yes? at the top of his lungs I AM NOT THE REAL CHALLA! I M A FIGMENT, AN IMAGINARY CONSTRUCT. GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD BEFORE MINE EXPLODES!
114 Grassroots Writing Research Journal rubbing his head Geez. No need to yell. Now I need an aspirin. coming from upstairs Jesus, what the hell is happening down here? exits into the kitchen. tries to write again. After writing and deleting a few lines, he gives up, picks up the remote, and switches on the TV Nothing. Well whatever nothing was, it woke me up. Something should. Do all writers sleep until noon every day? What s your problem? Oh. Hey my favorite show! You like The West Wing? Yeah! Martin Sheen kicks ass! Isn t he like, a hundred years old? Why don t you ask him? points angrily at the ceiling, grabs his laptop, and begins to write again. sits on the couch. He idly picks up the remote and begins flipping through channels. enters from the kitchen with a carton of orange juice)
Sands In-Venting 115 Ask him? I ve never met him. Sorkin has never met Martin Sheen. Right. angrily slams down the screen of his laptop and puts it aside.. Yeah? Are you the real Kushner? We ve been through this. I m a figment. A construct. So if you aren t the real Kushner, what makes you think he s the real Sorkin? Oh. None of us are real. We re all constructs. So why are we here? This is why we re here. Yeah! You re writing a screenplay! picks up the laptop. We re writing a screenplay. All of us. Together. Actually, isn t he writing a screenplay? indicating the ceiling
116 Grassroots Writing Research Journal Yes, he s writing a screenplay. And we re helping him. Okay. But you just said that we re imaginary. And isn t it his imagination doing the imagining? Yes. to Wait I think I know what you re saying. If we re part of his imagination, then nobody s helping him do anything. He s doing it all by himself. Exactly. Uh oh. What? The Myth of the Individual. Not this again. Individuality is not a myth. That s not what I mean. Now I need an aspirin. rising and crossing to the kitchen exits into the kitchen The Myth of the Individual is a concept I wrote about back in the 90s. You wrote about it?
Sands In-Venting 117 Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean. offstage Ask him what the Myth of the Individual is. That ll be fun. Okay, I ll bite. What exactly is the Myth of the Individual? Indiana Jones next adventure? Ha. The Myth of the Individual is the belief that people stand on their own, having original thoughts, accomplishing individual goals, and generally, being islands unto themselves. So? So Scott isn t writing this thing himself. He isn t? Nope. We re helping him. entering from the kitchen with a bottle of aspirin. But we re figments of his imagination. We are. So isn t he helping himself? I mean if we re not us, but we re him, and we re helping him, isn t he just talking to himself? Sort of. My head hurts. tosses the bottle of aspirin. opens it, upends the bottle over his mouth, and chews the several aspirin that make their way into his mouth
118 Grassroots Writing Research Journal Whoa. Easy there. to Don t worry. This isn t really happening. to Where do ideas come from? You re kidding me. No he s not. Just humor me. I know you don t want me to say individual genius. He s on to you,. Shut it. So what do I want you to say? I don t know. Yes you do. to to exasperated That creativity is a collaborative process. And is it? What kind of a question is that? Get to the point,.
Sands In-Venting 119 Come on,. Is creativity a collaborative process? to, indicating Wow. I actually think he might hit you. No! Creativity is an individual trait! Three movies and three TV series, and I still gotta put up with this? mockingly Theatre is a collaborative endeavor, you can t have a play without actors and technical staff, everyone is influenced by other people yadda yadda yadda. picking up the laptop and opening it At the end of the day, someone s actually gotta do the creating. begins to type furiously. After a few moments of nothing but typing Hey. What? barely under control How did you learn to use that computer? Oh crap, not you, too. Did you invent the computer? What is wrong with you? No, I didn t invent the computer! So how did you know how to use one? I did what anybody does when they get a computer. I opened it up, messed around with it, tried to figure out what various buttons did, where to plug stuff in
120 Grassroots Writing Research Journal Okay. But how did you know where to start? What? You got a computer. You opened it up, and you didn t eat it. You didn t use it as a coaster. You didn t introduce it to your parents and then take it to a movie. He gets the point,. Actually, I have no clue what you re talking about. Yes you do. Wanna bet? The first time you saw a computer. The very first time. You knew without having to be told that there were certain things you should do to it like plug it in and certain things you shouldn t do to it like stick it in the freezer next to the hamburger. What? It s true, isn t it? Yeah, I did know that. But everybody knows that. But how? How did you know where to start?
Sands In-Venting 121 I just did. Without thinking about it. There s more to it than that. I know, but Don t tell me that it takes an act of individual genius to operate a computer. I don t know. Just the other day, I figured out how to add page numbers in Microsoft Word. I felt pretty smart then. has picked up the laptop, and is turning it around, examining every surface carefully Are you for real? You know I m not. The keyboard Shut up, you. to to The keyboard is like a typewriter. It has all the same keys Make me. You asked for it. grapples with, and the two begin to wrestle and the monitor, it s well it s a monitor. But it s a lot like a TV screen, or a window. You look at stuff through a TV screen
122 Grassroots Writing Research Journal Ow! No hair-pulling! to you look at stuff through a window Hey, Mike Tyson no biting! to and you look at stuff through a monitor. Whoa you did not just try to pick my nose! Guys I give up! I give up! Lemme go! Guys I win! Guys! Geez, what is it with you two and yelling? I m right here. I ve figured it out. Figured what out? How to operate a computer. Took you that long, did it? Shut up,.
Sands In-Venting 123 What d you find out,? to I knew how to use a computer because I d seen every part of it somewhere else. The keyboard isn t all that different from the typewriter my Dad used when I was a kid. The monitor is like a TV screen, or a window. What else are you going to do but look at it? Lick it?! That s gross! What? That s what my cat does. Your cat likes to chase cars on the freeway. Does that mean you re going to run down I-55 after the next Chevy you see? Guys! Oh. Sorry. Continue. I m done. Aww, c mon No, I mean my explanation is done. I figured out how to use a computer by comparing all of the parts to things I already had experience with. Sure, they weren t the same, but they weren t that different, either. Wait a minute are you telling me that you intuited how to use a computer? No. Well, sort of. Computers are designed to make sense. I sort of trusted in that. Oh crap.
124 Grassroots Writing Research Journal What? It s only a half step from intuition to creative genius. To the Myth of the Individual. No it isn t. It isn t? Design is collaborative. Really? Yeah. People design things so that using those things make sense to someone else. Audience awareness. Yeah. Among other things. Hold on how s this going to help Scott? It already has. Um it has? Screenplays are designed to make sense. And so are plays. But they aren t the same thing. No. But since Scott has written a play, he has an idea where to start. Okay.
Sands In-Venting 125 You OK, Pankaj? Scott doesn t need me anymore. Sure he does. He read your example in the Writing Research Annual. That s it? All he has to do is read an example I wrote, and he can write a screenplay? He knows where your office is. Oh, so he really needs the real me, is that what you re saying? Pankaj Pankaj Don t Pankaj me! What the heck am I here for if Scott doesn t need me? He does need you. He needs to write. And read. And research. And part of that research is talking to you. And reading what you ve written. And writing plays. And reading plays. Pankaj And watching plays, and playing around, and talking and reading and doing, blah blah blah. I get it.
126 Grassroots Writing Research Journal Do you? Pankaj What the hell kind of question is that? Pankaj, why are you here? I mean, what made Scott imagine you in the first place? Pankaj He wanted to write a screenplay. Thought it would be easy. And he was wrong. Pankaj Well yeah. But he saw my article in the Annual. And he read it. And that got him thinking. And here you are. Here I am. Pankaj He s trying to write a screenplay. And failing. crossing to pick up the laptop And each time he fails, he tries something new. Reads another screenplay. Reads another play. Talks to people. Writes. Watches movies. And gets better. So he s just practicing? No, he s trying. Pankaj
Sands In-Venting 127 And failing. And trying. And failing again. And you handing the laptop are the questions he asks in between the trying. This is weird. Yeah. It is. Pankaj But it isn t entirely unfamiliar to you. No, it s not. So start there. And we ll help. Pankaj sits down, opens the laptop, and begins to type, with and watching intently. Blackout.
128 Grassroots Writing Research Journal Scott Sands is a doctoral student in English Studies at ISU with research and teaching interests in writing center work, writing and tutoring pedagogy, metacognition, creative writing, and assessment. He loves texts that call attention to themselves as artifacts, including especially the work of Charlie Kaufman and Kushner. As a teacher, scholar, and person, Scott values three things above all else: confidence, persistence, and reciprocity.